To the Editor:
Home rule is a very powerful subject. The Greens of Chester property got approval for smaller houses and then the developer doubled the size they wanted!
This is all a part of their plan to paint Chester as anti-Semitic when, in fact, it has nothing to do with this issue at all. Nor does the oft-repeated complaint that the homes are not available for sale to anyone except the Hasidics. No one at all is begging to buy homes there. It's a non issue. That Letitia James can demagogue all she wants, but it is not true.
We are concerned with what the Hasidic developer wants to do on that land, water, sewer, traffic, etc. Same problems that all developers face no matter their religion.
The issue of one developer changing rules and getting preferential treatment from the town board and planning board are just two reasons the Whaley Farm (Cold Spring Farm) in Sugar Loaf raised such a ruckus in Chester back in late '80s when the Linpro Corp wanted zoning changed to allow for over 1,000 condos spread all over the property right on Kings Highway near entrance to Hamlet of Sugar Loaf. The whole town ultimately turned out and fought this off and elected a new supervisor (Tim Diltz, who led the charge as Sugar Loaf Community Foundation president against Linpro and the town boards) and Mike Sussman (who lives in Chester), who also won a seat on the town board.
Needless to say, Linpro took their ball and posse of lawyers and went home after the election to lick their wounds in Pennsylvania. They are currently defunc!
No one even comments on the issue of Attorney General James deciding to use her state office to represent one developer in Orange County. And the water testing has been a requirement known to Hasidics since the beginning, and they refuse to do one. I don't think this woman can override home rule in Chester, where water or sewer issues are involved. It would set a terrible precedent for the entire State of New York. We either have home rule or we don't!
Deborah Diltz
Chester